Physically challenged Zululander Siphiwe Petros Manqele was elated and cried tears of joy last week when he was given an electric wheelchair.
The donation was made by Sihle Zikalala in his capacity as ANC provincial chair.
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Zikalala handed over wheelchairs to two recipients; one to Manqele who lives in KwaMsane near Mtubatuba, and the other to a Jozini resident.
Manqele said he is grateful for the electric wheelchair because using the old one was difficult as he has the use of only one of his arms.
‘I could not leave the house as much as I wanted to, so the donation makes me really happy; I cried tears of joy,’ Manqele said.
He explained that being housebound felt like he was trapped because he is a people person who enjoys having conversations with friends, ‘because that helps me forget about my disability’.
After rainy days, his yard becomes muddy which makes moving around in a wheelchair difficult, so now he wishes he could lay concrete over it.
‘I also wish I could get a ramp up to my kitchen door. A neighbour helped with the one at the front door after seeing how difficult it was for me to get inside the house, I always had to ask for help,’ Manqele said.
Manqele lives with his school-going children and wife who is also physically challenged and the only employed adult in the home who has to shoulder the cost of living.
Zikalala said he came to know of Manqele’s plight last year during a door-to-door campaign.
‘We sincerely apologise that it has taken us so many months to accede to your request for a wheelchair of this kind, but we are here today to give you the chair, which is delivered on behalf of the ANC,’ Zikalala said.
The ANC provincial chair said he worked with the party’s chair of the Far North Region, Siphile Mdaka, and the
Sihle Zikalala Developmental Trust to source the wheelchairs for the two recipients.
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